A report just released by the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) and the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) puts the level of active gang membership in the U.S. at an astonishing 1 million persons. 

The FBI's National Gang Threat Assessment for 2009 says more than 20,000 gangs were criminally active in the U.S. as of September 2008. Most operate at a local neighborhood or street level.

Gang presence is so widespread that nearly 60 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies reported criminal gangs were active in their jurisdictions. They are moving out to the suburbs and beyond too, expanding their influence beyond urban centers.  

The suburban and rural expansion of gangs has been driven by the need to expand drug distribution territories, increase illicit revenue, recruit new members, hide from law enforcement, and escape from other gangs, according to the report. Many suburban and rural communities are experiencing increasing gang-related crime and violence because of the expanding gang influence. 

"Gang activity is no longer merely a problem for urban areas. Gang members are increasingly moving to suburban America, bringing with them the potential for increased crime and violence,” said Kenneth Kaiser, an assistant director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division.

The U.S. border remains a hotbed of gang activity -- and not just the border you might think. Canada-based gangs and criminal organizations are linking up with motorcycle and street gangs in the U.S. to facilitate drug smuggling and other cross-border criminal activities.

Down south, gangs continue to be involved in smuggling drugs and illegal aliens into the U.S. from Mexico, with the report noting that U.S.-based gang members are crossing the border themselves to run their operations. 

Drug activity remains the mainstay of most gangs, both retail drug sales and wholesale-level distribution. "Gang members are the primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs. They also are increasingly distributing wholesale-level quantities of marijuana and cocaine in most urban and suburban communities," the report summary notes.

In fact, criminal gangs are responsible for as much as 80 percent of all crime in many communities. The threat assessment is a means of sharing information on the current situation, similar to the national security threat assessments carried out by the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

The report brings together data and analysis from at least a dozen U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies, and is available for download here (pdf).

A growing domestic threat 

Also of Interest:

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[+] Los Angeles suing to stop gangs

[+] Gangs in the Military

[+] L.A. city council bans type of military-grade ammo